The Hindu : National : “Women elected to panchayats need better training”

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Monday, Apr 28, 2008
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“Women elected to panchayats need better training”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A large proportion of the newly elected members to the Panchayati Raj system do not get the opportunity to undergo training programmes for effective performance.

The opportunity is not available to 43 per cent of them. The chief reason being ‘training not held’ in the case of 61 per cent of the representatives and ‘not called for training’ in the case of 22 per cent of the representatives, according to a study on ‘Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions’ carried out by AC Neilsen ORG-MARG for the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

Training in ‘Rules and Regulations of Panchayats’ and ‘Roles and Responsibilities’ are critical for better performance, but these are attended by only 57 per cent and 43 per cent of representatives respectively.

Irrespective of gender and position, three-fifths apparently feel the need for training on ‘Rules and Regulations of Panchayats.’

However, high levels of satisfaction with different aspects of training such as logistical arrangements (seating, visibility of screen board, training material), quality of instructor (attitude and language) among those who attended the training further reinforces the importance of having a defined training programme for elected representatives, the study said.

By and large, training programmes are perceived as participatory in nature (90 per cent) where questions could be easily asked (85 per cent) and female representatives received treatment on a par with male trainees (91 per cent).

The findings also indicate that, overall, elected women representatives function within an enabling environment at the level of the village community and the household.

Overall, the quality of participation assessed across various dimensions turned out to be reasonably good. A sizable 93 per cent of male pradhans — seniormost functionary at the gram sabha level — reported performing their primary role of organising and attending the gram sabha meetings.

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